Friday, September 28, 2007

This is the first of two cassettes released by the legendary UK post-punk group Metabolist. A lazy comparison of their sound would be a cross between This Heat & Magma, but they go much further than that. Always uncompromising, the Metabolist MO as they stated in Eurock magazine, was to refuse to be dictated to by fashion or establishing a 'Metabolist' sound and sticking to it forever.

I first discovered Metabolist around 1990 after buying a copy of their split 7" with Die Form. I purchased it for the Die Form track but ended up liking the Metabolist side more. A few years later, I traded that 7" away (perhaps to Dragnet records). Not long after that I found their LP and 7"s which reignited my interest in them. I then sought to track everything else they released including the split 7".

I launched a Metabolist web-site/discography on-line around 10 years ago in the hopes it would generate more interest in them and prompt a reissue campaign.

A CD that combines the LP, 7"s & compilation appearances exists. I figured it was a bootleg until I noticed it for sale at Amazon Japan. The Amazon listing mentions these are remastered recordings. I'm not sure if the band had any part of this reissue though as I've been told by one member that one or more other members had no interest in seeing Metabolist music reissued.

Monday, September 24, 2007

I am filling in for my friend Mark and joining Richard Chartier to celebrate the 3 year anniversary of Procedure this Wednesday at Cafe Saint-Ex (downstairs at Gate 54).

It has been a while since I've done a guest spot at Procedure and I am really looking forward to playing a lot of music I've posted here as well as some rare tracks I've found on other sharing sites.

I hope local visitors to Atlantis Audio Archive are able to check it out...

PROCEDURE (3.0)"something for everyone... and nothing for some"

WEDNESDAY . SEPT 26

it all started back when we were called MIES at Blueroom. so much haschanged... yet everything is still the same.so in celebration of this special day we are doing..... nothing special!except providing audio in the form of something for everyone...and nothing for some.

about mr applegate:- founder of Atlantis Records (www.atlantisrecords.com)- hosts Atlantis Audio Archive, a music sharing site featuring rare & forgotten electronic, industrial, wave & post-punk- occasional musician appearing on over 10 releases- radio/club dj for 20 years, most recently for the semi-regular Champion Superior Soundsystem @ Marx Cafe- will be spinning timeless electronic music from the late 70's to the present recorded all around the world

Saturday, September 15, 2007

This is the second LP from Vox Populi! released in 1989 on VISA records. This also turned out to be their last full-length release, not including the split LP w/ HNAS posted a while back by Thing on the Doorstephere. Also posted there more recently is their first LP Myscitismes.

This was the first Vox Populi! I heard aside from a couple compilation tracks and I've been a fan ever since. I picked this up around the time it was released and have been trying to find everything else they recorded for the last 15+ years.

I've never figured out why they fizzled out after this. Their musical output was limited to just a few compilation appearances after 1989. Anyone out there have some insight into what happened to Vox Populi!?

The first track Djamileh has always reminded me of Cocteau Twins. A Cup of Tea for Suzuki previously appeared on the Audiologie 5et6 - Ethniques Urbaines cassette compilation I posted in February. The last track, La Grande Plante Fibreuse, appears on the cassette compilation Mea Pulpa, but I am not sure if it is the same version.

Monday, September 3, 2007

The DC area is playing host to a continually expanding experimental music festival in the coming weeks.

This year, the Sonic Circuits festival stretches over two weeks at various locations and features many international artists like Christoph Heeman (HNAS, Mirror, Mimir), Frans de Waard (Kapotte Muziek, Goem, Beequeen...), Tony Conrad and over 70 more!!!

The American Composers Forum Washington DC Chapter and volunteer coordinators/curators are proud to present an expanded SONIC CIRCUITS festival for 2007. Last year's event presented four nights of performances exposing District audiences to cutting edge experimental audio from local and international artists.

This year, DC SONIC CIRCUITS 2007 promises more! More genre-bending sounds and world-class performances! Additional venues! Film and Video! More adventurous music and exploratory visions from over 80 artists from the DC Metro area, across the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, Spain, & Lithuania!

Running an international festival is one hell of an undertaking, especially on a shoe string budget. Show how much you LOVE experimental music by making a small donation. Give just $20 and receive one CD by a festival artist. Donate $30 and get THREE different CDs. Or you can always donate more!

Sunday, September 2, 2007

Here is the second LP from Kallabris, released in 1988. This LP is pressed on black vinyl and housed in a handmade lino-cut sleeve.

The music is less murky than the previous LP, but still quite industrial/ambient and briefly, at the beginning of side B, drifts into shoegazer drone territory. Accordion and vocals of various sorts are more prevalent here than the first LP. There also appears to be more control over the sound here as well. The metal or other found percussion seems to naturally fit here and doesn't become a distraction, or too overwhelming.

I have spare copies of this LP and their A Smile for Brandon cassette available for trade if anyone is interested - contact me via the comments section or e-mail to:

Up next are the first two LPs from Kallabris. The first one is untitled and was originally released in 1987 in an edition of 500 copies on clear vinyl w/ a thin printed transparent strip. It was later re-released as a 'Merry Xmas' edition on red vinyl in 1993 in a lino-printed red sleeve.

I stumbled upon Kallabris after seeing their name on the CoC distro inserts included with Cranioclast records. They still exist and have titles available here, here & here.

Cranio @ The Thing on the Doorstep recently posted their only cassette, A Smile for Brandon, and the amazing Hafalgar 10" here. I was going to post these as well, but Cranio thankfully saved me the effort and time to concentrate recording something else.

If the guitar line is removed from the first track on Side A (and also the last track on Side B) you would probably get something close to NWW-Soliloquy for Lilith.

I haven't listened to this LP in at least 5 years, probably closer to 10. As a testament to how this record has been permanently etched into my memory, within seconds of track A2 starting, I anticipated the mix of spoken female vocals - 'no boys or girls - no fun, no food', the chants, Velvet Underground tape/sample, and tweaked classical recordings that followed.

Other parts of the album are primarily dark ambient/industrial & drone. Sometimes relaxing, at others unsettling with sounds of crumbling, destruction, metal...

The rip includes artwork from both editions and is from my (previously) unplayed red vinyl copy.

Saturday, September 1, 2007

Regular readers here have probably noticed my obsession with Vox Populi! I started listening to them around the time their second LP was released.

Although there are eight tracks on this record, being a 7", they amount to just over 14 minutes of music.

Overall, this record is different than their later folk/world and industrial funk styles, having more of a dark minimal synth sound, as if the cover art doesn't already give that away. It hovers somewhere in the space also occupied by Monton, Dark Day & of course, the Vanity label.

This is ripped at 256K since it is shorter length. Unfortunately, a few tracks suffer from a bit of crackle and popping.